Python 1.4 would be mid-late 90s long before numpy and vector algorithms would have been available. I suspect it’s more likely to be something like passing std

Python 1.4 would be mid-late 90s long before numpy and vector algorithms would have been available. I suspect it’s more likely to be something like passing std::string by value not realising that would copy the string every time, especially with the statement that the mistake would be hard to express in Python.